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Do IT this week: Layering
By Patrick McManamon
Beacon Journal sports columnist
Published on Tuesday, Nov 18, 2008
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y.: He's the quietest player on the team, and he has been with the Browns longer than any other.
He has seen all kinds of defeats, and he has been through all kinds of trials and tribulations along with his team.
But Monday night in a game that went back and forth and up and down and all around, Phil Dawson gave the Browns a badly needed win in Ralph Wilson Stadium.
Dawson drilled a 56-yard field goal with 1:39 left to give the Browns a 29-27 victory over the Buffalo Bills.
He didn't just make that long kick.
He demolished it, sending it right down the middle and well over the crossbar for a career-long
kick to remember.
It was not an easy win. The Browns gave the Bills many chances, the last when Ryan Lindell tried a game-winner from 47 yards away with 38 seconds left.
Lindell's kick missed.
Dawson's didn't.
Just like the other four he made Monday night.
Which means that for the season, Dawson has made 22 kicks and missed just two, both longer than 50 yards.
This 56-yarder never was in doubt. One of the team's true pros made it, straight and pure.
How fitting for Dawson, a good guy and a pro who shows up every day to just do his job.
Dawson does not get into histrionics. He just does his job as well as anyone at his position in the league. And the Bills know it well — last year, Dawson made a near-impossible 49-yard kick in a blizzard against the Bills. Monday night, he made a 56-yarder on a cold night.
He kicks in lousy weather, on bad fields. And he just makes his kicks.
Clutch, anyone?
Dawson had help in the win, of course.
Brady Quinn completed just enough passes to give Dawson a chance. And Dawson had help from little-used Jerome Harrison.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Harrison took a toss left and zipped through a crease to score from 72 yards and give the Browns a 23-13 lead.
Harrison's speed and quickness are in stark contrast to Jamal Lewis' style, and the surprising thing is that Harrison wasn't used sooner.
Either that or it was perfect timing to use him when the Browns did.
Harrison's run changed the momentum, but not for long.
The Bills followed with a kickoff return for a touchdown.
This was the order of the night. The Browns would get ahead, then let the Bills back. The Browns had leads of 13-0, 23-13 and 26-20 dissipate. They almost lost, but they didn't.
Instead, they showed they have some fight — and life — left this season.
Not for the playoffs, mind you, but for the general welfare and well being of the team and its fans — and its coach.
A team that likes its coach and wants to keep him does not sit back when a teammate accuses some players of quitting.
It fights.
The Browns fought, and because they fought, they beat the Bills.
It was not easy — mainly because they forgot how to tackle.
The Browns' defense let the Bills turn the short dump-off pass into an art form. Time and again, they threw short to a back who broke one, two, three tackles and ran for a first down.
Their defense plays defensively, despite the near immeasurable efforts of Shaun Rogers. And it cannot stop the run.
The Browns gave up 186 rushing yards to the Bills, who averaged 4.9 yards per carry. The Bills often seemed to blow through a nonexistent line before being touched.
If Rogers did not make the stop, well nobody did. Not until the ball carrier was six or seven yards downfield at least.
And letting the Bills back into things when the Browns had a chance to grab hold of the game is a cardinal sin. In the NFL, when a team has another down, it needs to take a hatchet to the Gatorade buckets.
Bottom line: In the fourth quarter, on the road, when the Browns needed plays to win, they came up with them.
In the first quarter, someone held up a makeshift tombstone that appeared on the video board.
It read: ''R.I.P. Browns.''
Predictable? Yes.
Silly? Sure.
Accurate? Not this Monday night. Because in the end a 56-yard kick was good, which makes all the negatives and concerns a little easier to accept.
Thanks to the ever-dependable and reliable Phil Dawson.
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/mcmanamon/.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y.: He's the quietest player on the team, and he has been with the Browns longer than any other.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Posted 08:19 AM, 11/18/2008
Granted a win is a win,and as desparate as we are for a win,obviously we will take it. That being said this defense is another bad Cleveland joke ranking right up there with the Cuyahoga River fire,and the default.The tackling,if you want to call it that is ATROCIUS! Special teams were bad,which led to the almost losing the game,because of the short kickoff after the Browns took the 29-27 lead.Andra Davis and Kameron(one good year) Wimbley are stiffs! Thank God for Mr. Lindell,or we would be rueing another Browns defeat.
Posted 09:42 AM, 11/18/2008
I am willing to give our special teams the benefit of the doubt last night on the TD given up to the Bills. The special teams hardly ever gives up big plays much less TDs. I can live with one of those especially if we hang on to win the ballgame. Still, the tackling overall and stopping the rush is a concern. Late in the game it seemed to get worse. I assume guys were getting tired. I will say that I thought overall, as a team, they performed pretty well. Of course there are obvious weaknesses especially on defense but I really liked the offense last night. Brady converted on some big third downs which frankly we really haven't seen out of D.A. I'm not saying the offense is great but you can see its potential. Braylon Edwards also looked much better last night. I liked how Brady went right to him. What can you say about Jerome Harrison? Amazing! We need to see more of him in the Browns offense. I really liked what Romeo did at the end of the game. Very good time management on his part by calling timeouts. Finally, Phil, you are the man!
Port Saint Lucie, Fl
Posted 10:04 AM, 11/18/2008
They beat an average NFL team.Even with 4 turnovers they had to pray a last secon FG would be missed. I've never seen such poor tackling,atrocious.Pass rush?The Browns are fortunate a better QB was not leading the Bills,the guy had all day to throw.All in all i guess they did ok since they kept giving the Bills primo field position all night.Do not think this game means much as far as the team surging,if it did they would have put it all together after the Giants game.
Posted 10:44 AM, 11/18/2008
The manner in which the Bills attempted to hide and restrict their QB explains why they deserved to lose. Such behavior offends the football gods.
Wasn't it evident from the very start that McKelvin was going to break one of those KORs? It was very foolish to kick to him after Harrison's TD---and that is not a second-guess.
Browns' play-calling during final set of downs before Dawson's kick was also idiotic, leaving 1:44 on clock, making the period between Buff's TD (Edwards' run) and Phil's kick about thirty-seconds long. All the passes Brady was asked to execute during that series of downs were needlessly risky and difficult, too.
Tackling by back seven was/is horrendous, as if any fan needs to be told. Girlish grabbing and diving. With the entire league and nation watching, they made laughingstocks of themselves.
Cuyahoga Falls, OH
Posted 11:27 AM, 11/18/2008
Does anyone really care anymore?
Stow, OH
Posted 12:41 PM, 11/18/2008
On one 15 yard play last night I counted 5 missed tackles by the Browns .How does a player make it to the pros when they can't wrap their arms around a guy and tackle him ? And how many games do you expect them to pull off ,like the one last night, when you have a zero pass rush ? They were in Quinns face all night long and their QB had 6 seconds or more to throw .I am glad they won but I don't see how you can build off of it .
Posted 12:41 PM, 11/18/2008
RC must go!
Posted 01:07 PM, 11/18/2008
Will we ever be happy in Cleveland? Even in a win all we can do is complain. I say, even with all the mishaps and missed tackles and lack of a pass rush...it's still a win. Regardless of whether Lindell missed the winner or not. 4-6 is beter than 3-7. I'm still waiting for Quinn to go deep on a more regular basis. And I am still waiting for Edwards to go a game without a drop...But othewise I will take a win.
And for those of you who tell me it's onyl Quinn's second start, "don't expect him to go to deep too soon he's only be starting two weeks..." He will say it himself...he has been preparing as if he were the start for the last year and a half. In DA's second start he was throwing bombs down field. It's time for Quinn too. Very efficient and smart...just want to see the field stretched out.
Posted 01:41 PM, 11/18/2008
Seriously, Erik is right. People still want to complain about everything. The change at quarterback is a huge change in the chemistry of the team. It will take time to see where the team goes from here and how it improves. So far I see progression instead of regression however the defense will need much help through the draft and free agency in the off season. It is way too early to start complaining again especially after a win.
akron, oh
Posted 02:45 PM, 11/18/2008
mike and erik some people complian if you hang em with a new rope!!! nad they all seem to post here
i am happy this monday GO BROWNS
Posted 06:25 PM, 11/18/2008
I am with Mike and Erik. As much as Browns fans are complaining, what are the fans saying in Buffalo after going from a 5-0 start to now? Pulling for the Browns every year is fun, and, yes, frustrating, but hey it's just football. Enjoy the good and take the bad with a grain of salt.
Akron, OH
Posted 10:15 PM, 11/18/2008
We love to complain.
It's about entertainment.
That's football.
It's also about choppy phrases and truncated paragraphs.
For effect?
McManamon thinks so.
For everyone else? We wait to read the AP story instead.
Why?
Because it doesn't read like a flat tire.
Posted 07:36 AM, 11/19/2008
Of course the players like Crennel...he doesn't give 'em a slap and a kick in the arse when needed. More likely he asks, 'who wants a donut'? The browns need an old time, smash mouth, eye gouging coach.
